Annuloplasty

An annuloplasty is a surgery to tighten, reshape or reinforce the ring around a heart valve. It may be done during other treatments to repair a heart valve.

An annuloplasty is done to reshape, reinforce, or tighten the ring around a damaged or diseased heart valve.

The ring around a valve in the heart is called the annulus. It can widen and change from its usual shape. The shape change may prevent the valve's flaps from opening and closing correctly. So blood can leak backward through the valve, a condition called valve regurgitation. A heart that is larger than usual or a leaky heart valve may cause the annulus to change shape.

An annuloplasty may be done to fix the valve. Other surgeries to repair a heart valve may be done at the same time.

In an annuloplasty, the heart surgeon measures the size of the existing ring around the valve. Then the surgeon sews a band to the existing ring. The band may be rigid or flexible.

An annuloplasty can be done during open-heart surgery or minimally invasive heart surgery, which involves smaller incisions.

Researchers are studying less invasive ways to do annuloplasty and other heart valve treatments using long, thin tubes. Such ways are called transcatheter procedures.